I have more questions than answers. But I believe in something much bigger and try to share the little glimpses I see. Please share yours. Together we can create more - I believe.

Tuesday, November 22, 2016

Yes, There is Great Cause for Alarm!

Many are saying there's no great cause for alarm about our next president. "Get over it," they say. Some argue that a president can only do so much. And ordinarily, this would be a legitimate argument. But these are not ordinary times and the events leading to this have not been ordinary at all.
Our founders carefully crafted a democratic system with a balance of power between the executive, the legislative and the judicial branches of government. If there was over reach in one area, the other branches had power to balance out the others. Soon, those three branches will be a united force with the full and total power of the justice system, the legislative branch, the United States government and military behind them.
Our justice system is at risk of being skewed to interpret and rule in favor of the extreme right. Our legislative branch and the president elect have clearly expressed that they will ONLY have a Supreme Court replacement that they can be certain will vote extremely conservative. Dozens of lower court positions have been similarly left open, unfilled, and it is a certainty that they will follow the same extreme right agenda in filling these positions. Anyone with a centrist or liberal view of civil rights has great cause for alarm.
The party claiming to be in favor of small government and deregulation, has been clear in wanting big government intervention in limiting civil rights for "certain" people. A barrage of new legislative actions will come that will focus on limiting voter rights protections, strike down marriage equality, threaten immigrants, question and limit religious practices, eliminate minority protections and set women's rights back 30 or 40 years. Protections for our land, our poor, our food, our freedoms will be "deregulated". Anyone who is "different" has great cause for alarm.
Meanwhile, the legislature will lock step with the president in limiting dissenting voices. This president elect believes he should have equal time on comedy shows if they make fun of him. He wants to expand libel laws to prevent the media from saying things he doesn't like. This man, who has claimed not to be beholding to anyone, is indebted to China and other foreign nations wanting us to believe that will not influence how he governs. He is so lacking in self control, he can't stop using twitter to attack people that get under his skin.
There's plenty of reason for alarm. This is not an ordinary transfer of power. This is not an ordinary time. It's alarming! We need to "say it how it is". We need to call it what it is. No, we shouldn't just shut up and get behind this. The foundation of our democracy is crumbling. It's crumbling because of a willingness to overlook what should have never been overlooked. It's crumbling if we overlook the greatest decline in honesty, decency, transparency, and balance we have ever faced. A supposed billionaire just bought the nation and he's not beholding to the people who voted for him and certainly is not beholding to those who didn't.